Categorical Perception Links

Tests

TOEFL-Information on the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Required test of English for admission into most American universities

TOEIC-Information about the Test of English for International Communication

IELTS-International English Language Testing System-tests the complete range of English language skills which will commonly be encountered by students when studying or training in the medium of English. The British equivalent of the TOEFL.

Enchanted Learning is an excellent website that can be very useful for beginner ESL students. Among its hundreds of activities and crafts is its Little Explorer English Picture Dictionary as well as 6 bilingual picture dictionaries. There are "Label Me Printouts" for dozens of categories including animals, flags, states, geology.... Under "ESL Printouts" you'll find a wealth of pictures specifically helpful to students learning English. Just recently the website added an ESL activity called "Look It Up! Quizzes" in which students look up words in the English Picture Dictionary to find pieces of information. This website is endlessly interesting for kids of all ages.

Practitioner Toolkit: Working with Adult English Language Learners- provides needed support and resources to adult education and family literacy instructors who are new to serving adults and families learning English. The toolkit provides a variety of materials to help practitioners meet the language and literacy development needs of the ELL students they serve. These include responses to Frequently Asked Questions, a first-day orientation guide, lesson plans, etc. Download the entire document or select and download topics of interest as needed.

Lesson Supplements

The Mixxer is a free educational site for language learners and teachers to find a language partner for a language exchange. The language partner is someone who speaks the language you study as their native language and is studying your native language. The partners then meet online to help each other practice and learn a foreign language.

Fun Stuff

Urban Dictionary-a website that allows people to add their own slang words and definitions to an urban dictionary. Some are real, some are humorous, and some are both.

Preparing for a Substitute-Being a substitute teacher isn't easy under the best of circumstances, but as a classroom teacher, you can take steps to facilitate a positive experience for everyone-the substitute, the students, and yourself. Click here for links to helpful tips and templates for subsitute teacher instructions and feedback.